DILI, 26 october 2023 (TATOLI) – The government of Timor-Leste, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), on thursday, started inspecting the implementation of the rice subsidy by the importing companies – Perisos dan Creative Furak.
Vice-Minister of Commerce, Augusto Júnior Trindade said that the aim of the inspection is to ensure that the importing companies comply with the agreement signed by both parties.
“The government will continue its inspections to make sure that the 20kg bag of rice is sold by importing companies at US$9 and rice retailers would sell it at US$10 and US$11,” explained Trindade.
Minister Trindade said that he felt relief after seeing consumers enthusiastically buying rice at the set price.
The manager of Creative Furak, Atika Monis Carvalho, said that her company sold more than 12,800 bags of rice a day after the subsidy was implemented: “Prior to the implementation of the subsidy, we only sold more than 1,000 bags a day. We currently have more than 200,000 sacks of Red Bear Rice in our warehouse.”
In addition, the manager of Perisos, Jong Fu Kong, said that his company also sells the 20kg sack of Family Love Rice for US$9.
He said that rice retailers are required to present a business license from Timor-Leste’s Business Verification and Registration Service (SERVE) and fill in a form to buy subsidized rice from Perisos.
Both Creative Furak and Preisos will each receive around US$500,000 dollars from the rice subsidies, which is equivalent to 25,000 tons of rice or 125,000 bags of rice.
On september 27, the Council of Ministers approved the Government’s Decree-Law on the temporary intervention measure to stabilize the price of rice on the market by awarding a cash subsidy to importing companies.
“The price of imported rice, for sale in the warehouses of importing companies and for resale to consumers in the shops selling the most widely consumed rice, is stabilized at 50 cents per kg,” said in Government’s Press Release.
The implementation of this measure aims to help meet the population’s food needs at a more affordable price, compensate importing companies for import costs, and build up a minimum stock of 30,000 tons of rice for emergencies.
On tuesday (17/10), government signs agreements with importing companies to implement the rice subsidy to ensure the stabilization of rice prices in the country.
The signing of the agreements aimed to ensure that the price of imported rice sold in the warehouses of national rice wholesalers is set at a maximum of US$12 for each 25kg bag or parcel so that retail sales can be set at a maximum of US$50 cents for each kilogram of rice.
Journalist: José Belarmino De Sá
Editor: Filomeno Martins
